Bob Burry said Friday that he is removing his name from the race for Shelbyville City Council because of illnesses in his family.

Submitted

Robert Burry has withdrawn from city council race.

Burry, a Republican who was attempting his second run for city council, said it just wasn’t fair to the city or the other candidates to stay in the race.

“I can’t emotionally do this [run for the council],” he said. “I don’t want to draw votes that would go to someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to the voters or the other candidates.”

Burry said it’s too important of a time in the shaping of Shelbyville’s future to potentially have a councilmember that could not give the job its “due diligence.”

“It’s a pivotal time for the town,” he said. “There is a new wave of people coming in downtown and being active, and we need to make sure we’re catering to their needs. The health of community is related to the health of its core.”

Burry said he would continue to work with the Shelby Development Corporation and the foundation.

“The thing I’m hearing from younger people is that they want to be involved, and we have to be able to draw them to Shelbyville and have things in place to keep them here,” he said.

With Burry withdrawing from the race, that drops the number of Republicans seeking election to the council to four – incumbents Frank Page and Jon Swindler along with newcomers Bob Andriot and Stephen Cohn.

There are also six Democrats vying for the council, incumbents Donna Eaton, Alan Matthews, Shane Suttor and Mike Zoeller, and two former council members looking for re-election, Norris Beckley and Nathan Riggs.

There are six seats on the Shelbyville City Council, and voters chose any six. There are no districts.